JD Sports says Q1 went well, opened new stores in US and Europe

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jul 3, 2019

The seemingly unstoppable JD Sports Fashion issued an update on Wednesday and it showed that the firm’s progress doesn't seem to be slowing down. Executive chairman Peter Cowgill said the group has continued its strong performance after the end of the record-breaking full year that ended in February and that “in the year to date we have continued to achieve encouraging like-for-like sales growth in our core Sports Fashion fascias both in the UK and internationally.”

The company has been growing both on a comparable basis and by adding new stores. In Q1, it added to its JD chain with 29 new locations globally and while the UK isn’t being neglected, the big emphasis has been on international development. It opened 18 new stores to date across Europe, including the conversion of six former Chausport stores in France. It also added five new stores in the Asia Pacific region with additional locations in both Malaysia and Australia.

Importantly too, it has now opened its sixth JD store in the US after the conversion of the former Finish Line store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. 

These JD stores are also now complemented by a trading website that was launched in May. “We remain encouraged by the developments in this market to date,” the company said, adding that it remains confident that it continues to be on track to deliver headline profit before tax for the full year “at least equal to current consensus market expectations.”